Internet companies cooperate with the authorities all the time. But there's something unseemly about Yahoo's guide, which puts a price on users' privacy: $30 to $40, in the case of a user's email account. The bounty is legal -- federal law requires law enforcement agencies to reimburse companies for costs incurred responding to such requests.

The document also details what kind of information Yahoo keeps on users of services like Flickr, Yahoo Groups, and Yahoo Chat, and how long that information is retained.

But the guide raises questions about whether Yahoo's practices, even in the United States, match its values.

For one thing, why does Yahoo want to hide this information? The document says that it "is not meant to be distributed to individuals or organizations that are not law enforcement entities, including Yahoo! customers, consumers, or civil litigants."

And Yahoo, in protesting a request to release the document under the Freedom of Information Act, said its release would only serve to "shock" consumers and shame "Yahoo."

Here's a thought: If Yahoo is ashamed of the information in the guide, maybe it shouldn't have issued it at all.